Tag: Writers

Some simple bullet points….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

Here are some simple bullet points that could save the Comic Book Industry. First off, I’ve been a reader, a consumer, a business owner, a manager of a company and lived life. These are based on common sense, not political correctness nor social pandering….

  1. Cover price must drop. $1 sounds right.
  2. Reprint issues from the past. Like all the time.
  3. Return to newsprint (or similar) paper.
  4. Advertise the comic book! I’ve seen a dozens of comic book movies in 10 years, NOT one time did I see some kind of promotion or tagline to go buy the comics these stories were based on. Poor marketing!
  5. Get comics at every check stand in America. Again, this should be a $1, reprint or even first run.
  6. Advertise. Plan and simple. Where does DC or Marvel advertise besides their own comic books. I remember as a kid seeing television commercials to pick up G.I. Joe, X-men and Superman comics “where magazines were sold!”
  7. Stop hiring comic writers simply because they fit a demographic.
  8. Overhaul the compensation of comic creators, writers and artists, so they want to create the best comics possible. This starts with lower salaries and more royalties. If I’m making $75K write a book and you hired me just cause of my skin color, why do I care if the book sells or is popular. Lower the going rate and offer more sales incentives. Allow creators to feel some ownership of the characters they are writing even if its owned by a mega-corporation.
  9. Run it as a business not as cultural propaganda. Tell good stories and everyone, all diversities will buy it.
  10. Listen to your consumers, the customer, your readers, your fans, your audience. Even 1 bad review is 1 too many. Ask yourself, why are readers angry. Don’t blame them for the poor quality of the product.

Simple stuff. And that’s probably not all of it. Comic books should LIVE!

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Today’s Word: Patience.

Posted on by CV Whitfield

Hello, boys and girls. Today’s word is patience.

This is something some writers don’t have. Okay. Well, maybe not some. Let’s just say me. I try hard to have it but ….

My head is filled with stories. It’s full of scenes, dialog and … things. I sit and as I write, it flows so much slower. I can spend a full solid morning and only have a few pages to show but in my mind, I’ve seen the beginning, the middle and the end.

So, with the patience comes focus. With that head so full of stories and ideas, its hard to stay focused on just one. I easily get something else caught in my imagination and start to document that. And typically, as I’m working on that, a new idea bursts forth.

I’ve learned that patience comes with discipline. To ease the chaos of my mind, I try to satisfy it by working on more than one project at a time. I’ve been asked if that isn’t confusing or difficult. To be honest, not really. But it does do, is: it slows down the process and extends the completion of the story.

So, I’m trying to focus on only 2 or 3 projects. I can rotate as needed but I feel it will help me and my blocks. But its not rigid. If I find that I spend all my time on 1 project, then so be it. And congrats to me. The only benefit to a slow process is that I get to think more about the story. I find places to make changes and fix problems. In the end, maybe thats the reward….

Oh, and with that: I use a notebook to catalog all those new ideas. Let’s just hope I can get to them one day!

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